Where the Sun Falls
by HM Frost
Summary: "We're all ghosts in this world, floating around for some purpose that's unknown to us. The only way to move on is to give up the hope that we can be saved." A group of survivors residing in the Pennsylvanian mountains struggle to keep their humanity and search for a cure as the world around them threatens to snatch away their every breath.


Time was a fallacy, a fairy tale told to children to pervade their minds with a false sense of hope. Long ago, people had relied on it heavily as they lived their insignificant lives on a glorified rock suspended in a void of nothingness, never pondering their purpose or wondering if there was something beyond the void - something beautiful and yet elaborately terrifying. They were lost in the illusion of time, floating endlessly like sand on the ocean floor.

He watched as the sun disappeared behind the trees, painting their leaves with its orange glow, and pondered these things himself. Aaron had never fallen victim to time, always acting on his own accord. Perhaps that was why he was always alone. He never minded it much, but there were some days where his gaze flickered over the shadows of the empty stools that stained the walls and thought to himself: _What have I become?_

Turning his back towards the setting sun, he stared intensively at the petri dish that had found a home on the oak finish of the laboratory countertop. The sample he had collected seemed to mock him with its eerie glow in the dim light. With a sigh, Aaron forced himself to approach it and store it in a safe place. For eternities, he had been waiting for a sign, a breath of relief to tell him that finally he had completed his quest. He was still holding his breath.

A knock on the door drew his attention, the sharp rapping echoing through the vacant room until Aaron answered it. He was greeted by a pair of honest green eyes that had belonged to a determined Roger, who stood in the doorway with his faithful hunting rifle slung around his shoulder while he ran his calloused hands through his golden locks. Aaron had always described him as a man of many colors, a chart of warm and cold hues left on a dusty wall to remind an artist of the simplicity woven into complexity.

"It's dinnertime," he spoke laconically and without the hint of concern for Aaron's wellbeing that had often plagued the words of the others. He had always appreciated that about Roger: He never dabbled in the affairs of others. "We've got those cans of cat food that Angel found on our last outing."

Roger waited patiently for the elder's response, his fingers drumming against the butt of his rifle. He never blamed the doctor for devoting his days and nights to searching for an answer, for salvation that Roger knew was hopeless, but the poor man's soul was shattering every second. How long would it be until the pieces became so finite that they could be swept away by a gentle breeze? _Look at you getting all philosophical again. _

As quickly as he had come, Roger was gone; the heels of his shoes smacked the tiled floor, each step a dagger through the silence as Aaron looked on somberly.

"Yo, is he comin'?" A gruff voice floated to Roger's feet as he descended the steps to the lobby.

"The man's got a lot on his mind," he replied succinctly, his gaze lingering on the shadowed figure that stood in front of the window. It was just like Angel to lurk in the darkness, watching everyone's actions with taciturn eyes; Roger fought a smirk that was trying to crawl across his face.

"Don't we all?"

As soon as the words floated past her lips, an acrimonious chill permeated the silent room. Giving a wordless thought for all the people that had fallen victim to time, Angel slid out the door with Roger in pursuit.

The hospital had fallen into disarray shortly after the outbreak - the windows were shattered, the paint peeling off the walls and what was once the pride of small town Pennsylvanian hospitals everywhere, degraded into nothing more a reminder of what was and what will never be again. But there was still comfort to be had within its crumbling walls. For the most part, it was safe and fairly secluded which was the definition of comfort these days. In Angel's opinion, that was the best thing about it – though some would argue that it was the amount of space they had. Not only was there a vast forest clinging to the mountainside behind the building, but the hospital was sitting on a great expansion of land that some heralded as a gift from God. Not Angel though. To her, it was just fucking grass.

It only took a few strides for both her and Roger to make it to the bonfire that was hidden behind a Red Cedar tree. The night was clear enough for her to see the wisps of smoke that swam towards the stars and a dash of worry splashed in her mind.

"Fire's getting a little big." She expressed her concern to no one in particular as she found a spot beside the flames. The ground was soggy and repulsive, but Angel felt there were better things to complain about. "We don't want any of them spotting it from far away." She began picking at the mud on her boots for lack of better things to do.

When the mud was cleared, she spent her time focusing on the faces of the people before her. There were eleven of them that huddled around the fire and each face spoke a different tale. There was the Wan family, built out of an indomitable father, who was occupied at the moment with securing the perimeter, and his two daughters: Theresa and Emily. Their full story was never revealed but Angel knew that there was another Wan who, somewhere down the long and dangerous journey that had led them here, was lost to the flesh-eating dead. Whether it was the children's mother or another sister, she didn't know; she could see the constant pain in their eyes that seemed to feed on their defeat.

Her eyes fell on Davondre Nichols, whom she knew next to nothing about other than the fact that he had the word "Alive" tattooed in an almost translucent white and cursive font on his back. "To remind me things could be worse," he had explained one night. Angel never did find out the meaning behind it, but something told her she wasn't meant to.

There was also a young woman by the name of Lamah. She wasn't necessarily the brains of the group (that honor had belonged to Aaron, who still hadn't shown up for dinner), but she was definitely the strategist and Angel had become increasingly reliant on her in the past month. In fact, Angel would be six feet under instead of breathing and eating the shitty cat food if it wasn't for Lamah.

"We'll be fine. James and Aiden are working the perimeter. If they see anything, they'll let us know," Lamah assured her. Truly, there was no concern. It had been days since any of them had seen the Sleepers lurking near the campus and only by being dealt a bad hand would they suddenly materialize. Lamah scanned the huddle before her, watching as shadows danced sardonically across the faces of each individual. In another world, she would never have encountered them. Lamah exhaled, her breath visible in the brisk darkness. Nor, she supposed, would she be spending each waking moment of her life wondering if she had made the mistake of living another day. Her fingers caressed the smooth fabric around her head as she buried her face behind her folded knees.

The peace had become too discombobulating for any of them.

"'Tuna flavored' my brown ass. I can't believe cats like this shit," Angel sneered, tossing the can aside. Despite Angel's obvious distaste for it, – and she had had the right to complain. The meal wasn't exactly a lobster dinner– Lamah failed to miss her subtle expression of guilt that emerged from her normally impassive appearance. Necessities were becoming scarcer by the minute, and their little group had needed a lot of things. It was reckless to prefer comfort over survival, but Lamah remained silent on the issue and focused on a related matter instead.

Rising from her seat on the grass, she announced: "We should expand our territory, broaden our horizons. Hopefully, we'll find more supplies." Feeling unsettled by the numerous eyes blinking up at her, she tugged apprehensively at the edges of her sleeves. "I'm sure we'd all appreciate that."

"You're not thinking of heading towards the city, are you?" Adrian, a boy of seventeen but with a wisdom well beyond his years, conjectured.

She shook her head, the folds of her hijab dancing with her movements. "Of course not. The closer you get, the more Sleepers there'll be. We're more likely to be successful heading where there's less population."

The people pondered on it for a while before collectively coming to an agreement. Starting in a day or two, they would decide who would make the run and where they would go. Proud of her plan, Lamah flashed a grin at Roger, who seemed too focused on the ground for no reason at all. It was if he was trying his hardest not to look at something and it worried Lamah a little. The man was diffident and lately had been more so. She resolved to ask him if something was upsetting him recently.

"Hey Aiden!" Davondre shouted across the field, his voice a little too loud for Roger's liking. All eyes were on Aiden as he stalked across the grass with obvious trepidation. "You here to sing another song for us?"

Shifting from one foot to another when he arrived, he had a warning: "There's someone out there. It's not a Sleeper. Angel, we need you."

"That's my cue." With haste, she stood up and swung her favorite shotgun over her shoulder to point it towards the wind. Aiden treaded carefully in front of her as they made their way to the end of the long road that stretched in front of the hospital. The road itself was littered with cars, broken glass and fallen trees which made it somewhat difficult to maneuver. It also provided the perfect fortification against anything that wanted to take the good thing they had. James was on top of an overturned ambulance, peering through the scope of his sniper, its barrel pointed at an unidentified object. Following the sniper's length, Angel watched the horizon. A shadowed figure emerged from behind a bush, and at first glance it seemed almost inhuman until a desperate cry emitted from it. "Pl-please don't shoot! I'm not one of them! I'm not…I'm not anything! Please! You have to help me! My girlfr-she's dead. I'm all alone…All…al-"

The shadow collapsed into a pile of debris and silence claimed dominance.

Shortly thereafter, Angel had found herself kneeling beside an unconscious girl. Her clothes were shredded, leaving her skin vulnerable to the scratches and bruises that riddled it. As Angel dragged her gaze up and down, she saw that the only protection the girl had was a meat cleaver that had become too dull to get any real use out of. It was a fucking miracle she was still alive as it was and God knows how long she had traveled prior to finding the camp.

It wasn't a good idea to throw someone unknown into their little party, and Angel was having second thoughts as to whether she should do something about her or leave her for the Sleepers. After all, her haggard appearance wasn't a far stretch from a walking corpse. She'd fit right in with their peeling bodies and hungry eyes.

The angel and the devil were on her shoulders and the debate went on for centuries, an endless parade of _Yes_ and _No_. It was more heated than the fire that was only a few yards away. Ultimately, she had sided with the angel and shoved the unconscious body over her arms. With what felt like the weight of the world in her arms, Angel dragged the girl away from vulnerability.

The thought crossed her mind that perhaps tomorrow, she'd learn another story.

* * *

**A/N: uh this was based off an idea in my head that wouldn't leave which was: what about other parts of the world? like i realize that it's not that much of a location shift from the original show but there's always been something about the mountains that seemed...mystic to me and i plan to utilize that throughout my story. also yes, this is mostly original characters but there's something i plan to do at the end that will sort of tie this whole thing with the characters on the show other than the fact that it's the same world.**

**anyway i hope you kiddos liked this and wanna read more! **


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